Compilation of almost forgotten stories retold

MANILA, Philippines – An estimated 4,568 overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) have been repatriated from Libya since February 26, amid growing tensions in the Middle East nation.

Latest figures show some 13,000 OFWs are now out of Libya, with about 5,000 of them en route to the country from various points.

But with the seeming easing of tensions in Libya, many OFWs have opted to stay behind, among them are teachers near Tripoli.

Since Thursday last week, Reynaldo Tayag officer-in-charge of the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration’s (OWWA) Advocacy and Social Marketing Division said the Philippine government has disbursed P30 million to 2,998 OFWs repatriated from Libya.

Tayag said the government has vowed to provide assistance to OFWs thru the National Reintegration Center for OFWs (NRCO).

Upon their return, OFWs from Libya are given a P10,000 grant meant to help tide them over.
Tayag added OFWs in Libya, mostly professionals, and highly skilled, have well-paying jobs.

On the average, Tayag said an OFW in Libya earns P30,000 a month, while engineers as much as P50-90,000 a month.

However, that source of income has been interrupted by the Middle East crisis.

Deployment ban

In February, the Philippine Overseas Deployment Administration (POEA) issued a deployment ban to Bahrain, Libya and Yemen due to ongoing civil unrest in those countries.

OFW deployment to these countries has been deferred until the political situation normalizes, but Tayag said some employers are open to having the repatriated OFWs return once the situation stabilizes.

“The principals are willing to absorb or redeploy again without cost,” Tayag said.

OFW assistance

For those who want to get into business, the NRCO provides OFWs business counseling to help them identify ideal business ventures depending on the region. It also offers loan assistance for livelihood opportunities, while job fairs are also being planned within the next few weeks for those looking for work opportunities here and abroad.

“OWWA has a regular loan window up to P200,000 for every OFW,” he said.

Tayag said partnerships or corporations made-up of groups of 5 can also avail of loans up to P1 million, while Landbank and the Development Bank of the Philippines (DBP) also has a package for livelihood loans.”

The NCRO guarantee system has no collateral, while in the case of OWWA loans, the OFW can use land titles or project assets such as household equipment as collateral.

To avail of the loan assistance, the OFW need only show a passport identifying them as OFW, and present their business plan.

For now however, Tayag admitted government’s priority is to bring OFWs to safety, adding the OFWs immediate need is to spend time with their families.

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Ayala Corp. said on Tuesday it was considering investing in infrastructure projects to be offered by the government, including the Metro Rail Transit (MRT) 3.

The country’s oldest conglomerate said it was studying some of the infrastructure projects the government intends to offer under its Public-Private Partnership (PPP) program.

On Monday, the government said the bidding process for the first 5 projects, worth more than $1 billion, was set to get underway.

“Please be advised that Ayala Corporation has expressed interest to explore various opportunities in the infrastructure sector,” chief financial officer and senior managing director Delfin Gonzalez Jr. told the stock exchange.

“The MRT 3 is one among other projects that the company is currently looking into,” Gonzalez said.

The government, which is seeking help from the private sector to fast track the construction and upgrade of infrastructure, will later this month issue an invitation to bid for a contract to operate and maintain line 3 of the MRT. The project has an estimated cost of P6.3 billion.

On Monday, San Miguel Corp. said it was interested in all state assets up for auction like the two sequestered government stations, RPN 9 and IBC 13.

San Miguel said last month it planned to invest $4 billion over the next 5 years as it looks to double sales through its diversification into energy and infrastructure.

Possible bids from Ayala Corp. and San Miguel would result in a 3-way fight for the MRT 3, as another corporate giant Metro Pacific Investments Corp. (MPIC) has also indicated interest in the project.

MPIC, a unit of Hong Kong’s First Pacific Co. Ltd., recently signed deals that could lift its stake to as much as 48% in the operator of MRT 3. It earlier offered $1.1 billion for the government’s stake in the railway system.

Shares in Ayala Corp fell 0.1% on Tuesday in a market that rose 0.3%. MPIC was flat while San Miguel dropped 1.6%.